When Broad Surveillance Changes Life

There's an interesting entry from a German blogger about broad telecommunications surveillance in Germany and how it has changed behavior:

Since the beginning of this year, communication providers are required to record who communicated with whom and when (but not the content of the communication). This data is stored for six months and available to law enforcement in cases related to certain forms of crime.

In at least one study, close to three-quarters of people knew about the data recording, 11 percent was already avoiding phone, cell phone, or email for certain communications, and over half "said they probably would not use telecommunication for contacts like drug counselors, psychotherapists or marriage counselors because of data retention." What happens when many people won't look for help when they need it because they fear telephoning or emailing someone, possibly even to set up an appointment?

Cellphone Novels Are Hit in Japan

It seems that the younger generation in Japan - the country that gave the world its first novel - have started reading the genre ... when composed on a cellphone. A New York Times article examines the phenomenon:

Of last year’s 10 best-selling novels, five were originally cellphone novels, mostly love stories written in the short sentences characteristic of text messaging but containing little of the plotting or character development found in traditional novels. What is more, the top three spots were occupied by first-time cellphone novelists, touching off debates in the news media and blogosphere.

It seems that since flat rate message charges started becoming available, young people with novels in them started discharging their literary works via cell phone. The works get posted online for free, with only the sites getting paid via advertising. (Some things never change, even with technology.) And then, if your novel is exceedingly popular, it may get turned into a print version. It's a different kind of read, as one cellphone novelist puts it:

“They don’t read works by professional writers because their sentences are too difficult to understand, their expressions are intentionally wordy, and the stories are not familiar to them,” she said. “On other hand, I understand how older Japanese don’t want to recognize these as novels. The paragraphs and the sentences are too simple, the stories are too predictable. But I’d like cellphone novels to be recognized as a genre.”